To Lie with Lions - Dorothy Dunnett [108]
He listened, and occasionally spoke. Chiefly, she wanted to be heard. When she finished she wept, and he drew away his hand and found her a kerchief. Then she said, ‘Now you must help me.’
It wasn’t difficult. His shoulder had been cried on often enough by girls who couldn’t read the signs; who didn’t know when to let some lover go. The only difference was that in this case, the lover himself had not made the first move as yet. He said, ‘My lady. The King your brother is not threatening your life.’
‘But he has sentenced my husband to death,’ said the Countess.
Nicholas said, ‘My lady, he has sentenced your husband to death, but he has not tried to force him to return to face his sentence. He has not used his friendship with Burgundy or his new friendship with England to compel the Earl to come back, because his concern all along has been for you. So long as the King’s beloved sister is in Scotland, he will not hound her husband.’
‘But he won’t let Tom return,’ the Countess said. ‘He won’t forgive him.’
‘He won’t forgive him just now,’ Nicholas said. ‘The King is fond of you, my lady. He is hurt that you came back for love of Tom Boyd, not for him. That is why he is angry. His anger may take some time to fade. But once it does, is there not a chance he may reconsider? Young James will grow, and the baby. The King will learn to love them. One day, God willing, he will have his own children and will no longer see the Earl as a threat to his throne.’
Her face showed simple astonishment. ‘A threat to the throne! Tom wishes only to return to his lands, and live as he has always done!’
‘I am sure that he does,’ Nicholas said. ‘But your brother is King, and has his country to think of. Just now, with the Earl sheltered in England, the ruler of Scotland must be prudent. England is friendly now, but what if she fell out with your brother, and decided to launch some token attack with your husband as leader? I cannot know,’ Nicholas said, ‘if your grace has some ambition to be Queen: I do not think so. But I have to tell you that it would be more likely that your husband would die, and that you, if you had joined him, could not be spared execution. You and your children.’
‘Tom would never –’ she began.
‘I am sure not. But if you returned now to your husband, your brother would have to think of that chance. He would be angry once more: you could no longer rely on his love. England would be required to ask you to leave. Burgundy would not accept you again. France would return you immediately to Scotland. So would Denmark. Where are your children going to be reared? Where will you die? In what country will your tomb lie?’
She stared at him. She said, ‘I wish I were dead.’
Nicholas touched her hand. He said, ‘You are at home, in your own land, with your sister and brothers about you. Your children will speak their own tongue. Wait. Have patience. Let the King’s anger die. Wait until his new alliances are made, his way clear. Then you may plead again for your husband’s return. Is it so much to ask?’
He waited. After a long time, she spoke. ‘And if he doesn’t forgive?’
He said, ‘By that time you will know what you want, and what your husband wants. But to join him may be to kill him. You may have to think of his future more than your own. You may have to free him.’
He waited again. She said, ‘How could we part?’ Then she said, ‘If I were free, they would send me away. They would send me away like Isabella, and Margaret and Eleanor.’
He said, ‘There are not so many lords fit for you here, it is true. Some are old, or much-married, although kind enough.’
‘I would marry anyone,’ she said. ‘If I couldn’t have Tom, I would marry anyone, so long as I could stay at home.’
There was no one to hear it. It didn’t matter: it had been said. He felt some pity, and let her see it. He said, ‘Will you understand and forgive, then, if I do not help you? While you are here, your husband has hope. And the King may